Cicada Dreams
by spherical
Summary: Like the Cicada, Touma Kusaka and Keiichirou Akuzuki emerge into a new life: in the year 2010. After a 150 year sleep, they are parted once again--in the strange city of modern day Tokyo. Fanfiction of the short anime series Winter Cicada/Fuyu No Semi
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

"Wow, what a beautiful day for a hike," Sarah laughed, her voice a playful bird in spring. But it was not spring—it was winter, and the hills were blanketed with white, the sun was out, and every crystal that laid asleep on the ground seemed to sparkle and smile at the sky.

"Yes, it is," Haru nodded, smiling back at his girlfriend. He met her when he was studying abroad in America. Now he was working as a pediatrician in Tokyo. He softly pat the box in his coat pocket, and walked on, up the hill.

At last they scaled the top, looking down and around the area just outside of Tokyo. The pale face of the sun, the powder blue of the sky, and a forest of white below.

"Wow, the view is beautiful!" Sarah exclaimed, scanning the horizon. But when she saw the bench next to the lone tree at the hill, she walked toward it immediately, dropping down with a sigh. "I'm so tireeeddd."

Haru followed her, watching her face in the reluctant sunshine, Sarah's eyes closed and breathing slow, peaceful. He bent down and pulled the box out of his pocket.

Sarah opened her eyes to see him on one knee, a small box opened with a diamond ring poised in the middle, its diamond like the glimmering, smiling, snow. And she smiled back.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, cheeks pink as cherry blossoms. It would only be a couple of months before they would begin to bloom.

"Yes," she said, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Yes, of course I will."

They clapsed their hands together, embraced, and kissed.

For a while they sat there, and when they were done resting they decided it was time to go back down.

"Well, going downhill is much easier than going up," Sarah nodded, watching the ring on her slender finger.

"Race you there," Haru said playfully, and took off down the hill.

"Hey, no fair!" Sarah protested. "You got a head start!" But she went after him, both felt like small children again in a world full of wonder and delight and dreams.

Panting, Sarah finally caught up. Haru beat her down the hill. They paused for breath.

"Hey, what's that?" Haru spoke, breaking the silence as he stood up straight to look ahead. He walked over near a garden covered in snow.

Sarah followed, thinking the garden would be much more pleasant in the spring. She grabbed Haru's hand, and became curious herself at the oddly shaped lump of snow near that one tree...

When they reached it, Haru carefully wiped snow from the surface of the lump. And he felt hair.

The blood rushed from his face. "Oh my god."

"What is it-- ah!" she gasped, also growing pale. A breeze blew softly, snow cast aside from two faces, pale in the snow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter I

Memories always seem so vague in the cradle of white light that is sleep. And a very deep sleep too, for Keiichirou Akizuki, whose squinting eyes began to open, curling eyelashes fluttering like a butterfly from its cozy, silken cocoon. From one light to another, in an extensive blur ceiling lights greeted Akizuki's eyes, but the lights were bright and not so welcoming. He found himself in a white room, with strange white things suctioned on his skin, connected to an even stranger contraption that produced a green light travelling up and down in graceful V's, and letting out a steady beeping sound about every second. He yawned, breathing slowly, and felt his heart, beating right in tune with the machine. He closed his eyes again, resting a moment.

_Wait a minute_, he suddenly thought, with his hand on his heart he felt and saw not a single scar or indication he was ever harmed. He thought back to that dreadful winter day, where he was now... how could it be possible? He flung the sheets from his bed away from him, gasping in the discovery that he had two legs again. He rubbed his eyes, was he mad? He wiggled his toes, pinched himself... and winced at the pain. No, this was definitely real. But how?

A door opened, and he jerked his head to look that way, eyes narrowed. They couldn't still be coming for him, could they, in this strange new world?

But it was not a war general or soldier of any kind. It was a woman in white, a nurse.

"Settle down, there," she chuckled. "Finally awake, huh?"

"How long was I asleep?"

"We weren't able to figure that one out," she replied with a sigh. "But you've been here, in a coma, for about two weeks."

"Two weeks..." Akizuki repeated softly to himself, and sunk back down in the hospital bed.

She approached him, checking the monitor scans. "Hmm," was all that came from her mouth.

Akizuki also looked at the monitors, but didn't understand them or even know what they were.

"Okay, open wide," she said, a thermometer in hand.

"Why?" Akizuki frowned at the bizarre yellow stick.

"To take your temperature, silly," she replied. He cooperated, and she stuck it under his tongue. "Now leave it there for about a minute. In the mean time, I'll take your blood pressure."

She put a navy blue strap around the not-so-willing Akizuki's arm, and he watched carefully. She pressed a button on a white remote, and it started to squeeze. He gasped.

"It's tight! Get it off!" He said, but before he could rip it off the nurse stopped him.

"Calm down! It's harmless. Have you never gotten your blood pressure taken?"

She gave him a strange look, and took the thermometer from his mouth. "Hmm. 98. A little high. But with some more rest I'm sure you'll be fine."

Then she looked at the white remote. "Ahh, and a healthy blood pressure. You've recovered quite well for someone nearly frozen to death."

"What?"

"A couple found you and your friend half-dead in the snow two weeks ago. If they didn't find you, then there's no way you would've made it. When you came in, you were in just a robe. What were you _thinking _back then?"

Akizuki ignored the question. His friend...? It must have been--

"Kusaka!" he shot up. "Where is he?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Kusaka. My friend. Tall, blonde hair. Where is he?"

"Oh, I'm afraid he hasn't woken from his coma yet. I'm sure he'll come through—you were worse off than him, after all. Just get some rest. He will do fine." She nodded at him. "Anyway, I'll go tell the doctor you've woken," and with that, she exited.

Akizuki stared after her, bewildered. Kusaka. He had to find him.... but he was so tired, and the hospital bed was pretty comfortable...

Akizuki woke again, this time alone. He was always alone when he woke up it seemed, when he was kept up in that guest house. And alone he had to die... yet here he was, far from dead. He shook his head, too tired to contemplate this impossibility right now. But praise Buddha!

He remembered Kusaka. They were found together...? That must have meant Kusaka also killed himself. The thought of the one he loved, dying in misery over his dead body broke his heart. He shoot his head again. No... he was alive now, and that's all that mattered.

"Forgive me, Kusaka," he muttered bitterly, eyes closed. He opened them, and rose. His legs trembled, weak. But he was alone now. He walked toward the door, cold without the white blankets over him. But he had to get out, he wasted too much time here already. He had to find Kusaka.

He glanced around the white hallways, an infinite number of doors. He peered through the windows of each one, and if that wasn't good enough he opened them, searching for Kusaka.

He leaned into one, squinting through the tiny rectangular window when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Surprised, he whipped around---oh, just another nurse.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you trying to find your room?"

With wide eyes and a panicking heart, Akizuki took a step back... and ran, the nurse calling after him. He opened more doors at random, searching desperately to rescue Kusaka from this cold, white prison.

But only more nurses approached. Back up? All of them telling him to calm down, but how could he? He bumped against a wall, pressing a button with his back in the process. A "bing!" noise from behind him grabbed his attention, and metal doors opened to a small box. Without choice, he entered the strange contraption, doors closing behind him, hearing calls for him to wait. He pressed the first button, all of them with strange numbers. His heart raced. This made no sense. Was this just a dream? No, no... it was real. But what the hell was going on?  
The steel doors opened again, and he rushed out. He saw an exit. Men in uniform tried to stop him, but he ran out. It was even colder outside, and all sorts of people were rushing this way and that. A large metal thing dashed across the street loudly, smoke coming out of it. Akizuki gasped. But no one around him seemed to notice, or care. He saw some people from the building he exited point at him. No, he couldn't be caught. He had no choice. Hurrying, he rushed away into the streets.

Was this even Tokyo? The Tokyo he knew—which had just been changed from its old name of Edo—was much calmer, brighter, friendlier than this. So much had changed. He couldn't take it.

Lost in a place so new to him, he ran on, without a clue or care—except for Kusaka. Poor Kusaka, still held captive! The knowledge that those men and women in white would pry and poke at him like some sort of creature sickened him.

Akizuki turned sharply into an alley way, where he could think. He leaned against the brick wall, fatigued. He felt sick, his forehead warm and feet numb from the cold. It was snowing lightly. The sky was grey. The buildings were so, so tall and everyone's faces so cold. Frustrated, he felt warm tears come to his eyes. But before they could escape from there, he heard foot steps. Akizuki looked up, seeing a young man in strange clothes, resembling more of the English's style than Japan's, approach. He stepped back, watching him carefully. The man chuckled.

"What's someone like you doing here in a hospital gown?" he laughed. "Are you crazy?"

_I must be,_ Akizuki thought, but continued staring at him in silence, trembling.

"You must be cold. Well, I could change that," he smirked, and grabbed his wrist.

Akizuki jerked back, but it was futile. He was too weakened. The man shoved him against the wall. Kasuka. Kasuka.

"What, cat got your tongue?" the man grinned, and pressed a hand against Akizuki's trembling thigh. Akizuki felt sick to his stomach. He'd never find Kasuka.

The man tore the hospital gown from his body, running a hand down his chest. He began to unzip his pants, forcing himself on him.

But before he could, Akizuki felt a new found strength in him. He struck him, shoving the man away from him. His fist was clenched and his eyes aflame. "Get away, you scum," he growled.

"Ahhh so he can talk," the man wiped blood from his nose. "Now you're gonna get it!"

He aimed to punch him in the face, but Akizuki grabbed his arm and bent it backward, flipping him over. "I don't think so."

The man still chuckled. "Go ahead. Rob me if you want, a lowly Tokyo street gangster. But my friends will come, and they will slice your neck."

Akizuki winced, and stepped back. But the man got up, throwing himself on him. With all his strength, Akizuki shoved him away, hitting him hard in the stomach. The man hit the ground with a thud. Akizuki inspected him. He was unconscious. He looked down at his own hands. Violence. He hated violence, and thought of how Kasuka killed a man to save him. He shook his head sadly. He had been in the war too long.

He shuddered. He needed clothing... and luckily, had some at his feet. He stripped the man, only thankful that they fit somewhat decently, though the shoes were a bit small. Now he would blend in, and not die of cold.

He put on the belt, which had a strange black contraption on it. He examined it, and thought of England. It resembled the European's guns, only smaller. Yes, he decided, it must have been a weapon of destruction, of death. He tossed the gun down at the man's body. He wanted none of that.

In his pocket was a wallet. He found plastic cards, worthless to him, and some coins. Money. Alien to him, but they had Japanese characters which told him it was yen. There were also paper bills which said the same thing, but they had higher value. His stomach rumbled. Akizuki turned, walking out of the alley way and back into the busy streets, given no more odd looks. He decided to go with the flow, and more importantly find something to eat. But he had no idea how to get Kusaka, and dreaded going back to the white prison. He walked on.


	3. Chapter 3

White lights, white rooms, an endless array of hospital doors. Ami Takashi sighed. Every day seemed the same. Open door. Close door. Patient. Asleep, as usual. He had been asleep like that for seventeen days now. She wondered what it would be like to be in a coma, but had no real desire to know.

This mysterious, unidentified patient was first rushed in with a high fever and low body temperature. How odd to look upon a face that before was so frozen, near death, and now so calm and peaceful. But still asleep. Poor thing. He was kind of cute too... Ami sighed.

She turned to leave when she heard a stirring noise. She looked back toward the patient, who, to her surprise, groaned.

She rushed over to him. She remembered her father's farm, how she loved to watch the baby chicks hatch from eggs. It felt kind of like that. For her, anyway.

"Umm.." the patient said in a sleepy daze. "Where... am I?"

"A hospital in Tokyo," she blurted, and immediately inwardly scolded herself. _Duh._

The patient, however, didn't find this information so obvious. "Tokyo..?" the patient closed his eyes.

"Well, yes--"

"Say..." he said slowly. "What year is it?"

Ami looked back over at him, giving him a forced smile. Was this guy serious?

"It's 2010," she said, deciding not to ask him.

The patient sighed heavily, and muttered something quietly to himself, about how he must have been dreaming or something before.

"Well, um, you see--" she said, slightly uneasy. "Nineteen days ago some hikers found you and that other guy, practically frozen solid just outside of Tokyo. It's amazing you've made it really, with such remarkable recovery."

He didn't reply.

"Uhh. So. What's your name?" she asked.

"Touma Kusaka," he replied gravely. She nodded. A nice name...

"You know," he lifted his head, and laughed fakely. "I don't remember anything at all."

She stared after him. "Oh..."

She got up, and started to leave. "Oh yeah," she said, and turned around again. "The man that was with you—um, if you remember him—just left here a couple of days ago. He didn't seem to remember anything either, and ran around the hospital in a daze yelling 'Kusaka! Kusaka!' Frankly, we all thought he had gone mad."

Kusaka did not reply. Ami frowned, and left him alone.

"Akizuki..." he said to himself sadly. "Maybe it wasn't a dream."

But how could it not be?

When Kusaka woke up again, he was alone. He waited patiently for a while until the nurse came in again.

"Hey, nurse," he said, looked down at himself. "Akizuki... that man who was looking for me. Where did he go?"

The nurse paused, seeming a bit surprised. "He... ran away. With the busy Tokyo streets you know... we have no idea. He had no identification, so..."

"I see," he sighed. He threw the hospital sheets off him. "Where are my clothes?"

"Um, sir? You need to lie down."

"No. I need my clothes. And then I need to find Akizuki," Kusaka said, determined. Stupid Akizuki. He always seemed to be running away from him. The thought of him wandering around, lost and cold in Tokyo in a strange era worried Kusaka. And yet, the nurse wanted him to sleep!

"Please, you need rest--"

"I've done nothing but that for a hundred and fifty years. I need my clothes."

_A hundred and fifty years?!_ she thought. He was just as mad as the other guy. "Look, I will tell the doctor that you are doing great and are ready to be released, but please, lie down!"

Kusaka stared at her for a moment, but finally turned and plopped down on his bed in stubborn silence.

"There we go. I'll go get your release papers..." with that, she left him.

"Silly woman!" he exclaimed, arms crossed. Though all that talk about rest did make him a bit tired...

"Sir, wake up..."

"Muuuhhhh," Kusaka groaned. "Oh, you again."

"The doctor checked up on you while you were asleep. He didn't want to disturb you. He agreed to release you. I'll wheel you out."

A wheel chair was by her side, ready.

"Anyway, here are your clothes," she handed him a clear, plastic bag with his clothing very neatly folded inside, shoes and socks and all. "We had them cleaned for you."

"Thank you," he said, and watched her leave again.

He dressed quickly, though slightly messily. He opened the door.

"That was fast. Here, let me wheel you out."

"I can walk just fine."  
"It's customary that we wheel you--"

"I can walk just fine," Kusaka repeated, and then walked away quickly, the nurse watching him. She shook her head. Men were so stubborn.

Kusaka left the building quickly, his eyes greeted by a tsunami of people and odd automobiles on the roads. He had seen automobiles before, but they were no where near as fast and neat looking as those. He stared after them in bewilderment. He breathed in the air, smokey and strange.

"Hey, move it!" a voice said, with no indication to where it was from. The people here were strange, it was like he was back in London, only it was even more busy.

_2010, huh..._ he thought, and walked into the unknown.


	4. Chapter 4

"Not much money left," Akizuki murmured quietly to himself. It had been two days since he escaped from the dreadful building he woke from, and felt weaker than ever. His stomach growled. No, he would save what he had left...

Akizuki sank down on a street corner bench, at a bus stop, though no knowledge as to what a bus even was. He felt perfectly miserable. And cold. He longed for Kusaka and his warm hands, lips...

"That's him!" a cry from a vaguely familiar voice rang. Akizuki turned his head, and felt his blood run cold. It was the man he ran into the other day.

"Shit," he uttered, rising from the bench. He started backing away. If he ran, he'd look suspicious, and he certainly would not find any strength left in him to combat any of them. But they were approaching fast as well. Heart racing, he pushed himself to run, however slowly. His insides burned, and his stomach felt queasy. He darted around, trying to make sharp turns and lose them in the crowd, but only to find they split up. It was hopeless--

"Ugh!" he clenched his eyes shut on the impact. He looked up. A man in uniform looked back at him. A badge pinned to his side said Tokyo Police Department.

"Sir, are you okay?" the officer said, looking him over carefully.

"Actually..." Akizuki hesitated, remembering the government officials coming after him on that dreaded day. But this was not the Tokyo he knew, and what choice did he have?

"I am being chased by a street gang," he continued. "I ran into one the other day and he assaulted me. Luckily, I could fend him off."

The officer nodded. "There is a building just two blocks away that says Law Enforcement Center. Go there, they will make sure no one harms you."

Akizuki nodded.

"Go! I will take care of these punks," and the officer gave him a nudge, urging him along. Akizuki turned to watch him, pulling out a gun much like the one he found at the belt of his assaulter two days ago. And he ran quickly to the building, slowly getting closer in sight.

He went inside quickly, swinging open the doors, and looked all about him. Lights were coming from the ceiling like the white prison, and some furniture were along the walls. There was also a staircase and metal doors like the ones that led him to that strange travelling box.

"Can we help you?" a man at the front desk called out to him. Akizuki looked up, remembering himself.

"Um," he said clumsily, still looking around him, and outside... "I am being chased by gang members. A man in uniform told me to go here."

"I see," the man said, but his eyes were on some papers in front of him. "Here, I'll take you to one of our officers. They'll have to ask you some questions about your situation. Don't worry, you're safe here." He smiled, and led him down a corridor. He knocked on a door, and asked for Aiko Hisashi.

"Wait a moment," the man said, and entered the room, closing the door. Akizuki couldn't make out any of the sounds, but waited patiently, and in mild confusion.

"Come in, and sit down," the man said again, reopening the door. He exited.

Akizuki watched him leave, and entered the room, closing the door behind him. He sat in a chair in front of a desk, where a dark looking man sat.

"So you've run into a bit of trouble, I hear?" he asked with a sigh.

Akizuki scanned the room uncomfortably. "Er, yes."

"Care to expand on that?"

"Oh, right, of course," he stammered. "Well, two days ago I became a bit lost and stumbled to an empty alley way to recollect my thoughts. I suppose that wasn't such a good idea either, since I soon had company. A man—well, he looked no older than twenty—approached and before I knew it, he was on top of me. I felt a bit sick that day, so I was weak, but luckily I managed to give him a good hit in the face. Which only resulted in him trying to fight me back, and he threatened to send other members of his gang on me. Without realizing my own strength I managed to knock him to the ground, and ran away. Two days later I was sitting on a street corner minding my own business, and I hear this voice a block away. It was the man from before, only he had back up. Luckily I managed to run into a man in uniform, and here I am."

"Hmm," Hisashi nodded, a finger at his chin in contemplation. "You aren't affiliated with any gangs yourself, are you?"

"Oh, no, no, not at all," Akizuki shook his head firmly. "I hate violence."

"I see. Well, you--"

Hisashi was interrupted by the door opening, yet again. This time it was the officer Akizuki first ran into.

"Good news, you two," he said with a smile on is face and cigarette between thin lips. "All those men chasing after you? I called for back up, and they are all spending their sweet time behind bars now."

"Excellent. Saves me lots of trouble," Hisashi sighed. "Here," he turned to Akizuki. "A reward."

Akizuki took the money, fifty dollars. He nodded in thanks.

"Hey," the other officer said. "If you still don't feel safe, feel free to stick around here for a while."

"Thank you," Akizuki said.

"How about you walk with me for a while?"

Akizuki looked over at Hisashi, who nodded at him. "Okay," he rose from his seat, exiting the office.

"My name is Uzumaki Isao," the officer said firmly.

"Keiichirou Akizuki."

"It isn't uncommon for gangs to interfere with civillians, but you must have beaten one of their guys good to have all those men chasing after you."

"I guess. Two days ago one of them encountered me. When he tried assaulting me I knocked him to the ground."

"Serves him right," the officer growled. "My little brother was lost to a gang."

Akizuki paused awkwardly, watching the floor. "I'm sorry."

"No need. It was... a long time ago." He turned, opening a door to what looked like a meeting room. "Sit down. You can listen in if you want," he nodded. Three other men were already in the room, chatting amongst themselves.

"Hey Isao—who's this?"

"A friend of mine," he said as he took a seat. "With his help, I just caught six thugs."

"Then he's welcome here," one of them said, and the men introduced themselves.

After everyone settled in their seats, a man and woman, both wearing suits with stern faces and dark spectacles, walked in. "Good evening, men," the man said.

"As we all here know quite well, gang violence in Tokyo lately has gotten progressively worse," the woman said. "Normally the gangs keep disputes just between themselves, but throughout the years attacks on civilians have been increasingly more common, and is now in fact expected. Even with more laws and more of our men patrolling, gangsters have found their way to continue to be a disturbance and growing concern, even causing riots. We will have no more of that. Today we will discuss a plan to protect our sector of Tokyo without having to go through the trouble of trying to pass any more bills or waste any time."

The man turned off the lights and set a laptop down on the table. A power point appeared on the wall. Akizuki gasped, amazed.

"Something wrong?" Isao whispered to him.

"No, I'm fine," Akizuki replied quietly.

The man then said, "This, of course, is a satellite image of our sector of Tokyo. The red circles indicate where all the officers are stationed.

"Now, all the yellow dots are the locations in which reported gang violence of some sort occurred in the past three years. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them. The coloured triangles represent our guess of where various gangs tend to meet often. The normal procedure is to simply patrol those areas often, but the gang members look like ordinary civilians and have their own secret ways of communicating with each other, even with our trained knowledge in gang signs, signals, and slang.

"I will make this brief, it is supposed to be a short meeting after all. Extending our connections and educating the public tend to be the most effective ways to inhibit gang violence, but even then they seem unstoppable.

"We have a few brave volunteers who are undercover in a few gangs, and report to us about their whereabouts and plans. According to men we have on the inside, there will be an attack on a government building in a month. It is still uncertain exactly when on what day. We have warned the officials at that building, but we all agreed not to close it down out of fear that the gang will find out we know about their planned attack. In order to secure the area we will have a large number of officers, some undercover and some not, in and around the building for the next four months, and some more surrounding the area. Thankfully, most gangsters here are not very organized in their efforts, so we have the upper hand. Plus, many civilians we have contacted are on our side, acting as our eyes and ears for this operation. Understood?"

All the men grunted and nodded affirmatives. Akizuki remained silent.

"Good. I want you all to keep your eyes open now more than ever to crack down on this before it gets any worse. Now, if anyone has any suggestions or questions..."

"Um," Akizuki spoke up. "You mentioned you have men working undercover... Since gangs are unorganized criminals, can't you get the men on the inside to create a situation in which dispute arises within the gang and they fight amongst themselves?"

"Wait, who is this?"

Isao rose from his seat. "He was the reason I was just able to arrest six street gang members," he said.

"...Very well."

Isao sat down, and nodded at Akizuki.

"Well, it would certainly be a dangerous task. Most men we have on the inside would not be willing to do it, and we have too few that will. Not to mention it can be hard to be accepted as one of them, and it's quite risky. Besides, how do you think we would pull such a rash thing off anyway?" the woman said.

"If we know all the signs and codes, I don't see why not," Akizuki replied. "I doubt it would be too hard. Send enough of us in but subtly, and if we pretend to fight one another we could easily start a riot within the gang. It's risky, it's not a very structured plan, but that's what being in a gang is all about, right?"

The man watched him carefully. "Fine. Any volunteers?"

Isao raised his hand. Akizuki copied. Reluctantly, two others rose their hands as well.

"Good. I will discuss this with the officers on the other side of the sector. But remember not to say a word of this to anyone, you hear?"

The man stepped in again, "One more thing. What is your name?" He pointed at Akizuki.

"...Keiichirou Akizuki," Akizuki blurted, confused.

"I see. I usually don't do this, but I am putting you at head of your undercover mission. But remember, if you betray us, you will experience a hell worse than anything. I trust Isao to keep a very close eye on you."

"Right. Now then, we must go," he said finally, and left them.


	5. Chapter 5

_Might as well look around_, Kusaka thought as he strolled down the streets of modern Tokyo. Everything was strange. It was like England took over everything. It was like one of those sci-fi novels. It must be a dream. Yeah, that's it. A dream from reading too many sci-fi novels.

Kusaka scanned the buildings. The roads were everywhere, even built up in the sky. The buildings towered up as if they never ended. It was incredible. There were stores for clothes, perfumes, food, and technology that is so strange and new. As Kusaka pressed on, he saw one small building with open windows and inside were a bunch of children... dressed in traditional clothes. Kusaka stopped to peer inside. They were practicing martial arts. Kasuka thought back to his child hood, learning various martial arts...

"Wait, wait, waaaait," Kusaka said as he watched. "That move is all wrong!"

Without helping himself, Kusaka barged in. "Heeey, you're defending and attacking all the wrong way!"

Everyone turned simultaneously to stare at him oddly.

"Then how about you demonstrate how to use jujutsu properly," the sensei said, a middle aged looking man. "I will be your opponent."

Kusaka narrowed his brows, and gave a firm nod. He approached him, and all the kids jeered, shouting things like "whooo!" and "Kick his ass, sensei!"

Kusaka took off his jacket and flung it in the corner, rolling up his sleeves.

"All right, children, now watch very carefully," the sensei said, staring Kusaka down. "Remember the techniques I just demonstrated, and watch them being used here."

Kusaka made the first move, immediately tackling his opponent to the ground. But he kicked Kusaka off, who managed to recover quickly enough to avoid being pinned down. They distanced themselves about a meter away, staring each other down again. This time the sensei made the first move, which Kusaka defended and mirrored.

"Your footing is all wrong," Kusaka said, and threw him.

"Is that so," the sensei smirked. "Then how about this!"

Before he knew it, Kusaka was knocked on the ground with the man standing over him. All the students were cheering the sensei on. Kusaka frowned, and whipped his leg out to trip him. "Now we're even," he muttered.

Kusaka dusted himself off, putting his jacket back on, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Dismissed!" the sensei said, hands pressed together. He bowed, and all the kids bowed back. They all ran outside, putting on their shoes quickly with their martial arts clothing in their back packs. Kusaka watched them leave, and started to go through the door himself.

"Hey," the sensei called after him. "You're not bad. You know, I was actually prepared to tell the kids unfortunate news. I was going to quit, but after grappling with you I think I will continue. I quit my other job for this since it takes all my time, but I just can't afford it. I think I can get my job back if you step in and teach half of the classes for me."

Kusaka looked at him, slightly surprised.

"I am Masashi Koji," the man said. "Do we have a deal?"

"Um..." Kusaka paused, and bowed quickly. "Toume Kusaka," he stammered. "I am in need of work, so yes."

"Excellent! You are a life saver."

"Uh. I don't have a place to stay though..." Kusaka said, eyes on the floor. He rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"That's fine. There is a room back here. I don't use it anymore, so you can stay there. What happened?"

"I uh... fell into financial troubles recently," Kusaka lied. "I've been homeless since."

"It seems like that's been happening to a lot of people lately," Masashi nodded. "With the recession."

Kusaka nodded. "But let's not talk about such grave things," Masashi sighed. "What martial arts do you know?"

"Kendo, jujutsu, judo, ninjutsu, and some karate," Kusaka nodded. "Kendo is my specialty."

"I see. I don't know judo or kendo, but those would be excellent new courses to offer. We also teach taekwondo, kempo, and wrestling. Have you ever taught martial arts before?"

"Not really, not in classes," Kusaka said.

"No problem. I'll help you teach. But for now, let's clean the floors. The next class is in two hours."

Morning rose and poured through the windows. It was sort of nice to be in a room that seemed so traditional, in a world that otherwise was so unusual. Kusaka sat up. The sound of Masashi instructing students echoed through the building. Kusaka headed for the bathroom.

After Masashi finished his early morning class, he entered Kusaka's room. He was in a robe, reading a book found in the room.

"Oh," Kusaka turned to face him. "Sorry... I'm afraid I don't have any other clothes."

"That's fine. There are a few kimonos in there, but I must apologize for I have no modern clothing for you."

"This is alright for now," Kusaka said with a brief nod. "I'll save up some money to buy my own things soon. Thanks again."

"Good. The ninjutsu class is in forty minutes. How about you help instruct it?"

"Sure."

"I'll go get you some breakfast while you change, okay?"

"Yeah..." Kusaka rose. Masashi left.

Kusaka sank back in his chair with a heavy sigh. "Akizuki... I wonder where you ran off to."


End file.
